Thornburg Better World International Fund Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary with Top Morningstar Five-Star Overall and Five-Globe Sustainability Ratings

SANTA FE, N.M., Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thornburg Investment Management ("Thornburg"), a global asset manager that oversees $41 billion in assets¹, is pleased to announce the five-year anniversary of the top-rated Thornburg Better World International Fund ("Fund").  

"Investors may be skeptical about whether ESG-focused strategies can improve long-term performance," said Portfolio Manager Di Zhou. "We have demonstrated with Better World International Fund's short- and long-term performance that indeed we can offer investors a solution that does good in the world while simultaneously doing well in their portfolios."

The Better World International Fund is a core international equity fund that integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors with global fundamental research to deliver a high-performing portfolio of sustainable companies. The Fund typically invests in companies trading at a discount to their intrinsic value and demonstrates one or more significant positive ESG characteristics with the power to last and grow over time. The strategy is available to U.S. retail and institutional investors.

"Thornburg Better World International Fund is a natural extension of our corporate culture of sustainability," said Thornburg President and CEO Jason Brady. "Led by founder and chairman Garrett Thornburg and bolstered by our global team, Thornburg's commitment to the principles underlying ESG is seen through our community involvement, employee volunteerism, and in our LEED gold certified headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico—an example of energy- and water- efficient design."

As of September 30, 2020, the institutional share class of the Fund (Ticker: TBWIX) received an overall five-star Morningstar rating and its five-year performance based on its risk-adjusted returns ranks it first among 548 peers in Morningstar's Foreign Large Blend category, since inception. The Fund also ranks first among 47 international ESG funds classified as "ESG Overall" in Morningstar's Foreign Large Value, Blend and Growth categories over the same five-year period. In Morningstar's Foreign Large Blend category, the Fund is ranked in the first percentile over one-, three-, and five-year periods out of 761, 647 and 548 funds, respectively, and in the second percentile year-to-date out of 774 funds.

In addition, as of August 31, 2020, the Fund's Morningstar Historical Sustainability Score ranks in the top 7% of 6,718 funds in the Global Equity Large Cap category, receiving five globes. This achievement makes the Fund one of the best-performing international environmental, social, and governance strategies available to investors in the Global Equity Large Cap category. As of October 12, 2020, the fund has $107 million in assets.

For more information about the Fund, please visit https://www.thornburg.com/products-performance/mutual-funds/equity-funds/fbwi/. To learn more about Thornburg's investment strategies, please visit https://www.thornburg.com/products-performance/mutual-funds/. To learn more about Thornburg's environmentally sustainable campus, please visit https://www.thornburg.com/our-firm/our-campus/.

About Thornburg

Thornburg Investment Management is a privately-owned global investment firm that offers a range of multi-strategy solutions for institutions and financial advisors. A recognized leader in fixed income, equity, and alternatives investing, the firm oversees $41 billion¹ as of September 30, 2020 across mutual funds, institutional accounts, separate accounts for high-net-worth investors, and UCITS funds for non-U.S. investors. Thornburg was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

At Thornburg, we believe unconstrained investing leads to better outcomes for our clients. Our culture is collaborative, and our investment solutions are highly active, high conviction, and benchmark agnostic. When it comes to finding value for our clients, it's more than what we do, it's how we do it: how we think, how we invest, and how we're structured.

For more information, visit www.thornburg.com or call (877) 215-1330.

Media Inquiries 
Michael Corrao
Director of Global Communications
Thornburg Investment Management
Tel: +1 (505) 467-5345
Email: [email protected]

Based on total returns without sales charges, Morningstar ranked the fund (I shares) #4 in the top 1% for the one-year period, #1 in the top 1% over three years and #1 in the top 1% over five years, among 761, 647 and 548 Foreign Large Blend funds, respectively, as of 9/30/20 as well as #7 in the top 6% for the one-year period, #1 in the top 1% over three years and #1 in the top 1% over five years among 59, 56 and 47 international funds classified as "ESG" in Morningstar's Foreign Large Value, Blend and Growth categories.

Thornburg Better World International Fund's Overall Morningstar Rating among Foreign Large Blend funds is based on risk-adjusted returns for Class I shares and uses a weighted average of the fund's three- and five-year ratings: five stars and five stars, among 647 and 548 funds, respectively, as of 9/30/20. To determine a fund's Morningstar Rating, funds and other managed products with at least a three-year history are ranked in their categories by their Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return scores. The top 10% receive 5 stars; the next 22.5%, 4 stars; the middle 35%, 3 stars; the next 22.5%, 2 stars; and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Risk-Adjusted Return accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance (excluding sales charges), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. Other share classes may have different performance characteristics.

Morningstar Sustainability Rating™ measures the financially material environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, risks based on the fund's historical holdings relative to their global peer group.

Morningstar uses a three-step process to determine a fund's Morningstar Sustainability Rating™. First each fund with at least 67% of assets covered by a company-level ESG score from Sustainalytics receives a Morningstar Portfolio Sustainability Score. Second, the Historical Sustainability Score is an exponential weighted moving average of the Portfolio Sustainability Scores over the past 12 months. Third, the Morningstar Sustainability Rating is then assigned to all scored funds within Morningstar Global Categories in which at least 30 funds receive a Historical Sustainability Score and is determined by each fund's Morningstar Sustainability Rating Score rank within the following distribution: high 5 globes (highest 10%), above average 4 globes (next 22.5%), average 3 globes (next 35%), below average 2 globes (next 22.5%) and low 1 globe (lowest 10%). Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

©2020 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Investments carry risks, including possible loss of principal. Additional risks may be associated with investments outside the United States, especially in emerging markets, including currency fluctuations, illiquidity, volatility, and political and economic risks. Investments in small- and mid-capitalization companies may increase the risk of greater price fluctuations. Investments in the Fund are not FDIC insured, nor are they bank deposits or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity.

Before investing, carefully consider the Fund's investment goals, risks, charges, and expenses. For a prospectus or summary prospectus containing this and other information, contact your financial advisor or visit thornburg.com. Read them carefully before investing.

Thornburg mutual funds are distributed by Thornburg Securities Corporation.

¹ Includes $39.8 billion in assets under management and $1.6 billion in assets under advisement as of September 30, 2020

SOURCE Thornburg Investment Management

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